Monday, March 25, 2013

Orangey Red Lips

My desire for orange red lippies has been burning strong since late January. I'm looking at anything that uses the words "coral", "mandarin", "orange", "clementine" and such. Pinkish corals look awful on me, so I determined that orange reds will be the thing. It turns out I already have a goodly amount of those shades within my own stash.

Lise Watier Mango Punch - Looks sheer on the arm swatch but is buildable to near opacity on lips with a strong lean to red rather than orange or mango. It looks awesome on a bare face with giant sunglasses on.

NARS Wonder- The most orange of the bunch. It has medium opacity for a gloss and I like to wear it on its own without layering.

Clarins Blood Orange - It looks punchy on the swatch but applies much more sheerer on the lips. It's less stickier and more moisturizing than the NARS. It also contains gold micro-shimmer that's more evident in person than on the photo.

Revlon Tutti Frutti- Quite sheer on initial application but can be layered to near opacity with slight sheen. Like its sister Candy Apple, I love the shade and formula and texture but cannot deal with the packaging issues. It's now twisting in the tube and driving me nuts.

MAC Korean Candy - As you can see, it's much more pigmented than Tutti Frutti and has to be sheered out rather than built on for flexible coverage. Both shades are definitely in the orange camp, with Korean Candy being a darker version of Tutti Frutti, if you will.

MAC Lady Danger - It's a stunning warm coral red which is much more obvious when held next to a cool-tone red. It's fully opaque in one glide and I'm actually still afraid to wear it full force. But I'm working on it!

Maybelline Vibrant Mandarin - It's close to MAC Korean Candy in colour but less shiny and more opaque in finish and pigmentation. The entire range of Maybelline Vivids are wildly tempting for summer. I was torn between this and Electric Orange but decided that Vibrant Mandarin was a more complex shade that could be enjoyed more frequently than a simple flat orange that's more difficult to pull off on a regular basis.

Well, I was going to leave it there, but now it's apparent that we need a showdown between Vibrant Mandarin and Korean Candy.

Huh. Vibrant Mandarin is actually more vibrant salmon next to Korean Candy. I noticed that the Maybelline Vivids all seemed to have a strong lean to pink, but when held up alone, Vibrant Mandarin seemed orange enough. Well, now we know. It seems that I may have to pick up Electric Orange after all.

Or do I?

I suppose that's enough punch orangey red lips after all. But I still have my eye on the new Clarins Rouge Eclat in Juicy Clementine. I'm convinced that it's oranger than these bunch without being totally full force orange, if you know what I mean.

For now, I'm slipping the sunglasses back on and pretending that it's
30C and humidity is making my hair go wild. Ahhh, summer, hurry!

52 comments:

I was looking at the Vivids yesterday and they do seem very pink-toned. I have my eye on Shocking Coral or Vivid Rose. I wear bright lipstick year-round but I love anything on the pink-orange spectrum (including coral) for the summer.

LOVE orange-reds! I bought the MAC Pro Longwear Lip Cream in Good to Go, and that's what I use to create most of my orange-based colours. Or if I'm lazy, I'll use NARS Heatwave. I used to be completely exclusive with matte, blue-based reds, but I found them a little heavy for spring/summer.

Oh so pretty! I bet these all look fabulous on you, dear wifey! The one I'm eyeing is Tutti Frutti. I've only ever tried Peach Parfait and never experienced the problem with the packaging but I recently got all the new shades so we will see I guess...DEFINITELY Tutti Frutti for spring/summer though! it will look gorgeous with Frivole!

I didn't even think about pairing Tutti Frutti with Frivole. You're brilliant! I think it'll look great on you, dearest. :) And once the summer tan and glow sets in, orange will look even more awesome!

I feel like my favourites change all the time, but I reach for Lady Danger most often in the Spring/Summer when I want a bold orange lip. Although I do wear Korean Candy when I want a "juicier" look. I think I'm going to get a lot of wear out of those new MAC Mineralize Rich Lipsticks, though, especially in Lady at Play for summer. ;) If you want a vivid orange that's less red than Lady Danger, you need So Chaud in your life.

I think I will check out NARS Heatwave next, and if I love it enough, I'll splurge on it when I go to the States...

Whoaa Liz you're killing me! I don't have many orange lipsticks at all, but I do like orange and some of these look soooo delicious! I am keeping my fingers crossed that the new Maybelline lipsticks are going to make their way here soon. I already want at least half of the lineup!

I keep giving the Vivids the eye but I'm turned off by the packaging - it's really not bad but I just like plain black or gunmetal ~sniffs snobbishly~ I can't help it :S

I think you have a solid orange-coral showing here Liz! I don't have any pigmented shades like this, just sheer glosses (Wonder and MAC Luscious Spark Dazzleglass) - and now MAC Morange, but it is definitely straight-up orange and I'm terrified to wear it. Must be something about your skintone that makes orange look so good (bet Morange would KILL on you) as it doesn't really work so great for me, but pinky-corals are my JAM.

Having a hard time picturing you being terrified of any makeup! Pretty sure you'll find a fierce way to wear Morange on the regular. I was debating between that and Korean Candy but chose KC because it wasn't as scary, lol. Anyway, I would still like to find a way to wear pinky corals at some point. Not exactly a priority but something on the table for the future. :)

I love this post, Liz! I have Korean Candy, Lady Danger and Vibrant Mandarin too and they're all amazing! I wish the Sheen Supreme formula didn't have so much slip though...not my favorite but I can deal. I thought I was already following your blog but I wasn't apparently, and now I'm kicking myself for missing out on all of your awesome posts! Will need to catch up this weekend :)

My lips are dry so I like the slip of the Sheen Supreme, but at the same time it's hard to distribute the colours evenly, so I get what you mean. And clearly you have great taste... because those shades rock so much. I need to figure out a way to wear all of them at the same time, haha!

These are so awesome! I can't really do orange coral, though I also have Tutti Frutti (must be worn with care on me). However, Lady Danger is AMAZEBALLZ. And I really need to try the Maybelline Vivids...

Have you tried Chanel Calypso from I think last year? I rocked that lippie all summer long last year. Still hoping to be able to pick up another when my shopping ban is over in a few days! Nice collection - wouldnt it feel great just to FINISH one of those by the end of the summer??

I really do like Tutti Frutti because it is more of a straight up orange. I also like Korres Lip Butter in Mango for something sheerer. I wanted to get the Revlon JKBS in Rendezvous but I rationalised to myself I have too many coral lipsticks (plus that shade isn't available in Australia, along with the plummy Crush - boo). I also remembered I have this Maybelline lippie called Mango Diamonds. And another one called Coral Crush. Oh God, I'm almost just as bad as you and I didn't even realise I liked orangey-red lips that much.

Compared to everything else on the table here, Tutti Frutti is so sheer that I wonder why I was so fearful of it last year. I think you just reminded me that I also have Korres Lip Butter in Mango. Ummm... so, yeah, need to write a follow up post with the softer coral shades. We're horrible. Horribly lucky and happy. :D

No one talks about the twisting issue with those lip butters, so I was starting to think that it was just me who picked up a bum batch. Isn't it horrible??? I want more shades but refuse to buy any more.

Isn't it such a great feeling when you can shop your own existing stash AND still find something new & exciting? All your swatches are making me long for long summer days and sandal-wearing time (flip-flops too) ... thanks for sharing and providing inspiration!

Korean Candy, Lady Danger and Vibrant are all new as of last month, but yes, it IS a great feeling! I've fallen back in love with the older products and can't wait to sweat out the summer on patios with iced drinks in hand. :)

Gorgeous colours, and lovely swatches, Liz! I do love orangey reds for summer, but tend to stick to sheer glosses, as I'm not really brave enough for the more pigmented shades. I must say, though, Lady danger and Korean Candy both look like amazing colours, and I'm lemming Juicy Clementine at the moment, too! :)

Okay - being a fan of orange-red lips can I declare I love ALL of these! I can't believe I don't have Vibrant Mandarin or Tutti Frutti in MY collection so I may just have to rectify that with a little bit of retail therapy if I finally get out of the house tomorrow ;)